One National Bank v. Pope, 372 Ark. 208

Jan 24, 2008

OUTCOME: $2,343,170 affirmed, remanded on one estate

This was a tragic case. A mother and her two daughters were killed when a minister, driving back from a church fishing trip with a passenger from his church, fell asleep at the wheel. His car collide ... d with the car driven by the mother, Lorrie Kaz, and her daughters, Dusti and Julianne. All three were killed instantly. One National Bank was appointed administrator of their estates. This case was pursued against the minister, the church, and its insurance company. The church and the insurer denied liability, contending that the minister was an independent contractor and that he was outside the course and scope of his employment at the time of the accident. Another issue was the question of "loss of life" damages under Arkansas law. The question was what evidence was necessary to prove entitlement to loss of life damages. The trial judge held that the evidence was sufficient to submit the issue to the jury as to the daughters, but as to the mother, the judge held the evidence insufficient. The jury awarded loss of life and mental anguish damages on the estates of the two daughters, but was only allowed to award mental anguish damages to the mother's surviving children. After the verdict, the church and insurer appealed the judgment on the issue of their responsibility for the minister. The estate appealed the trial judge's decision not to submit the loss of life element to the jury. On appeal, the Arkansas Supreme Court upheld the jury's determination that the church and its insurer should have been responsible for the minister's actions. The Supreme Court also held that the evidence for loss of life for the mother had been sufficient to submit the case to the jury. This case will be significant as it will help lawyers and judges know what evidence is necessary to prove entitlement to "loss of life" damages under Arkansas law. As to the church's liability, this case is somewhat unusual as it occurred at a time that Arkansas law on charitable immunity was unclear. In more recent decisions, the Arkansas Supreme Court has clarified the law and made it clear that charitable immunity does exist, and that the proper defendant is the charity's liability insurance carrier. During the time this case was pending, the law was unclear, so the only safe procedure was to maintain the lawsuit against both. Further, we contended that the language of the church's insurance policy made the minister himself an "insured" under the policy. There was collateral litigation about that issue as well.